New Jersey authorities have arrested a man for his missing wife’s presumed murder, alleging he killed her to get his hands on approximately $3 million worth of gold coins.
Earlier this month, Cumberland County prosecutors announced criminal homicide charges against Hap Seiders in connection with the presumed death of his wife, Rabihan Seiders. The couple lived in Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania, in March 2012 when Rabihan’s adult daughter reported her missing, according to The Sentinel.
Cumberland County District Attorney Skip Ebert said they suspect Rabihan was killed in their Pennsylvania home, citing an April 2012 search of the home which produced blood on the carpets and 90 bone fragments in fireplace ash. While FBI Special Agent Eric Rardain said the blood matched Rabihan, the bones were too degraded to test for DNA, according to Penn Live.
Silver Spring Township police Sergeant David Jenkins said authorities used a blood-detecting dog to search the home a second time in July 2012. On that occasion, they reportedly discovered a knife in a bedroom nightstand—but Rardain said blood on it also could not be tested.
Hap, who has predominately lived in New Jersey since his wife’s disappearance, was taken into custody on March 4 of this year. He had reportedly told investigators that blood located in the Silver Spring Township home was from a nosebleed Rabihan had.
Rabihan’s adult daughter told police that her mother feared Hap would harm her and instructed her to tell police Hap did it should something happen to her, according to an affidavit acquired by The Sentinel.
The police sergeant recalled three incidents in which they responded to the couple’s home, noting that the last call resulted in an assault charge for Hap. The Patriot-News reported that Hap pleaded guilty in December 2011 to repeatedly punching his wife in the head during an argument over money on August 30.
Rabihan filed for a protective order against Hap in September, less than a month after the August assault. At the time, she claimed Hap threatened to kill her and “dispose of her body in the river in many pieces” in July 2011.
The District Attorney reportedly said they believe money also pushed Hap to kill his wife months later.
Ebert said Rabihan had transferred about $3 million in gold coins to a security box in Philadelphia shortly before her presumed murder. He declined to speak in detail about a financial motive, citing pending criminal charges, according to The Sentinel.
“It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if you’ve lost $3 million, you might want to get it back,” the D.A. reportedly said.
In addition to criminal homicide, Hap was also charged with tampering with or fabricating evidence and abuse of a corpse. Ebert went on to admit that there’s no “direct proof” a homicide occurred but said he is confident Hap will be convicted nonetheless.
The prosecutor concluded, “It had to be a decision on my part to go forward with this case based on the circumstantial evidence that we had.”
[Featured image: Hap and Rabihan Seiders/WHTM]
